The City Council is slated to adopt a $149-million General Fund budget next week that includes $2.5 million in cuts and fee increases to various services.
With the adjustments and a projected 1% increase in sales and property tax revenues, officials...

When Vice Mayor Gordon voted against approving the 2013-14 budget, his stated reason was that Burbank Water and Power is incurring millions of dollars in renewable energy costs that are causing rates to increase unnecessarily because of a state mandate...

The U.S. Department of Energy could learn a thing or two from the researchers and power-company employees of Burbank.
While the nation’s energy policy slowly, laboriously trudges toward sustainability and cleaner energy practices, Burbank Water and...

Delegates and a dance theater group from Burbank’s sister city of Incheon, South Korea, commemorated the 50-year relationship this week with dance performances, dinners and, on Tuesday, the ribbon-cutting for sculptures symbolizing the friendship....

The traditional Hanukkah celebrations at Temple Sinai in Glendale are going to get even brighter this year.
Folded into this week’s festival of lights is a fledgling effort to raise money for 120 or so solar panels to affix to the temple’s roof.
Rabbi Rick Schechter sees the effort as a modern twist on the Maccabees tale. In the teachings of the Talmud, the Maccabees returned to the Temple in Jerusalem after the Greek occupation of the holy land. They found enough oil in the Temple to...

A yearlong test of a new hydrogen/electric hybrid bus could start as soon as this summer, officials say, putting Burbank among a select group of cities that are trying out the technology to reduce emissions.
The demonstration project was born out of a 2007 partnership with Proterra, the company that manufactures the bus, with funding from the California Air Resources Board, said Jonathan Frank, with Burbank’s Park, Recreation and Community Services Department.
Through the alternative fuel...

A state law that requires 20% of the city's average energy sales to come from renewable energy is projected to cost the city $17.8 million this fiscal year, officials reported on Tuesday.
The financial burden of complying with the state mandate — which ups the ante every few years — outraged Councilman David Gordon, particularly because Burbank was generating enough energy before the state bill was passed to meet its power needs.
“Any renewables we bring in basically results in a...

Alternative Energy Photos

It's only natural for residents already dealing with unpleasant noise and traffic congestion levels around Bob Hope Airport to cast wary eyes at any proposed development there, but plans for a new ground transport hub at Empire Avenue and Hollywood Way deserve better than knee-jerk opposition.
Burbank City Council members are expected next week to consider green-lighting construction of the three-story Regional Intermodal Transportation Center, which would serve as a centralized location for travelers...

Testing is underway at Bob Hope Airport that could spell the end of the facility’s diesel-powered bus fleet. The test involves a bus that is fueled by compressed natural gas. If the test is successful, airport commissioners could decide to convert the rest of its fleet to CNG-power.
The CNG-powered bus, which has been in operation for a month, was shown to Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority commissioners on Monday morning.
“This bus is quieter, more powerful and a much smoother...

The taxi fleet in Burbank is getting greener, and soon those greener pastures will make their way to Glendale.
The City Cab lot near Bob Hope Airport sports roughly 110 taxi cabs and minivans. Forty-six of those vehicles, or 42%, are now either gas-electric hybrids or Ford Crown Victorias that run on compressed natural gas.
Martin Shatakhyan, general manager of the City Cab fleet, said the company plans to have 75% of the fleet converted within four years.
"We have had Priuses in the fleet since...

Spurred on by consumer rebates, Burbank Water and Power has seen a doubling in the number of solar installations in the past two years.
There are now 93 solar energy systems in Burbank, compared to 36 in July of last year, and nearly all were funded with grant money from the utility. Twenty-two additional systems are in the pipeline, officials say.
Combined, the solar panels generate more than 2,000 kilowatts of clean energy — enough electricity to power nearly 1,000 homes for a full year....